What was Fit as a Fiddle?

We received £15.1 million to deliver Fit as a Fiddle from the Big Lottery Fund as part of their Wellbeing programme in 2007.

Projects were delivered regionally by over 400 community organisations, including 100 local Age UKs. Over 350,000 older people and 4,500 volunteers participated in activities throughout the programme.

The National Programme delivered two England wide initiatives: it developed new models for engaging older people in volunteer based activity programmes and a range of activity based resources for consumers and practitioners.

Nine regional programmes co-ordinated a portfolio of innovative projects that enhanced older people’s health and wellbeing, from ‘Dancing for fun’ and aqua circuits to men’s cooking groups and thai chi.

In developing the programme, research was used which identified that older people who were not physically active were less able to do everyday tasks.

The research also showed that older people themselves felt that making a contribution to society, such as volunteering, was good for their mental wellbeing.

Experiences of Fit as a Fiddle

Programme evaluation

Whole programme, national and regional evaluations with key learning outcomes and recommendations have been produced throughout the 5-year programme. These aim to share key learning and highlight the impacts on older people.

Whole programme evaluation

An overall programme evaluation, written by Ecorys and the Centre for Social Gerontology at Keele University, is now available. The evaluation presents 5-year findings on programme themes including: volunteering, equality and diversity, partnerships and sustainability.

Come to Tea - Care home project

Read about the successes and learning from engaging with care homes across the country.

Key points:

The project created a large number of tea parties but also prompted a larger range of activities to benefit older people in 21 care homes, including training workshops, friends and family days and regional roadshows.

Moving Moments - BME, Faith project

Read how the training package for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) and faith communities, enabling opportunities for physical activity and wellbeing, was developed.

Key points:

The project empowered 1,224 older people from disadvantaged communities, giving them support through the volunteer networks and enabling these individuals to live healthier, fitter, more informed and less isolated ways of life.

The project has also developed a bespoke training programme with a focus on BME older people and their needs relating to physical activity and wellbeing.

Volunteers seemed to take on board the key messages about healthy eating and activity themselves. The trainers noted 'it was clear that they had benefitted from the learning and begun to make positive changes to their own lifestyles.'